Like this:

Grades, grades, grades. Too much of my time awake is spent evaluating others’ attempts at connecting with me. Sometimes I wish I could shut it off. Other times, I knock on wood: if it weren’t for that, I’d have nothing.

Resurrectionists #1 (Dark Horse): For the most part, I’ll try anything–well, any comic, anyway–with Fred Van Lente’s name on it. Hmm. What if FVL’s name were on wasabi-slathered sushi…or on a ghost pepper…or Dorito-flavored soda…

The Bigger Bang #1 (IDW): From the creative team of D.J. Kirkbride and Vassilis Gogtzilas. Who? Yeah, I don’t know; but I didn’t know Ken Krekeler and had no idea how much I was going to like Dry Spell, either. So, there you go.

The Bigger Bang #1

The October Faction #2 (IDW): Thought the first one was interesting enough. Sure, Steve Niles has a knack for horror, but it’s artist Damien Worm who has burrowed his way into my brain.

Alex + Ada #10 (Image): Love how Luna and Vaughn leave us hanging issue after issue. Smart storytelling–especially in the quiet moments, in the subtle shifts in the artwork from panel to panel.

Alex + Ada #10

Copperhead #3 (Image): #2 didn’t bite me in the same way #1 did. Don’t get me wrong: it was good; just wasn’t as transcendent as the first.

Drifter #1 (Image): Preview sounds like Heart of Darkness. Conradical! Again: We’ll see if Ivan Brandon–another writer with which I’m not familiar–and Nic Klein–who did nice work on Winter Soldier–can bring da gloom.

The Fade Out #3 (Image): Honesty: felt like I was fading out a bit while reading #2. Even though Brubaker and Phillips have certainly earned my loyalty, it may be that I’m sticking around because I’m supposed to–like it’s some cosmic comic rule to read it, especially following the fantastic Fatale.

The Fade Out #3

Outcast #5 (Image): The flame is set on low, but it still burns when you touch it. That about covers Outcast.

Wytches #2 (Image): I really wish I had more time to give this one the review it deserves. I’ve taken Snyder to task in the past; and this highest of high profile releases comes closest to what we’ve come to expect from the writer of the horror classic Severed. Thing is, it’s still terribly flawed. And it doesn’t help that Aguirre Sacasa and Hack’s Sabrina hit many of the same notes–and hit them more effectively. Funny how we haven’t heard as much about the offering from Archie Comics–the new home of horror–as we have about Wytches. Scary how powerful a spell hype happens to be, no?

Wytches #2

All-New Captain America #1 (Marvel): I hated Remender’s take on Cap. Turns out, his run was tantamount to sabotage–in order to prepare us for this natural evolution of/blasphemous take on the beloved American hero. Damn right I’m gonna buy it! Doesn’t hurt that I’m not so down on Remender of late, thanks to his lovely Low.

All-New Captain America #1

Captain America and The Mighty Avengers #1 (Marvel): Hey: if you’re gonna roll out a new model, you might as well roll it out. Al Ewing got me to believe in Loki, a character I’ve never cared for; I’m figuring that he’ll get me to believe in Sam Wilson as Cap, a character I’ve always loved.

Silver Surfer #7 (Marvel): So much fun! Slott and Allred can do no wrong with the unlikely and unbeatable pair of Norrin Radd and his polka-dotted partner Dawn Greenwood. Surffice it to say: this is Marvel’s best monthly book. But you already knew that.

The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood #2 (Dynamite): We’ve heard this story before, haven’t we? Kinda like how this one’s being told. Maybe it’s the English teacher angle…

Evil Empire #7 (BOOM!): This Evil Empire is all good. #5 was one of my Top 5 Books of September, and Max Bemis isn’t showing any sign of slowing down. Can’t finish my Evil Empire preview without a view of Jay Shaw’s cover:

Thomas Alsop #6 (BOOM!): Started off really, really well. We celebrated #2 as one of our favorite books of July. Since then, there’s been a bit of a drop off; I’m not as giddy about getting it as I was early on. But, overall, the storytelling’s been fine, and I still dig Thomas a lot. Gotta hand it to him: he’s got an Manhattan-sized ego–and, boy, does he need it!

Wild’s End #3 (BOOM!): I liked #1 enough to try #2–and thank goodness I did! #2 flew over the boundary for a Sixer–and was one of my favorite books of October. Never expected to say this: I.N.J. Culbard’s one of my favorite artists! No, really, he has to be, right? He’s one half of this mini and one half of 2000AD’s Brass Sun. Yeah, I love Brass Sun. Don’t you?

As some of you may know, in our real lives we here at I&N are educators (“What’s that?!” you ask, “A comic critiquing website doesn’t pay the bills?!” I know. I’m as surprised as you.) Well this new school year has hit this particular educator like a ton of bricks. (Seriously, if you know any teachers, give them a hug. Or maybe a flask.)

The sad result? You haven’t heard much from me lately. (How do you go on?) But there were two recent titles that I couldn’t let go by without comment and still consider myself a comics scholar, aesthete and general know-it-all. To wit:

Demon #1(self-published): Award-winning cartoonist Jason Shiga’s (Empire State, Meanwhile) latest features a determined young man with a never-say-die attitude…towards dying. Without giving too much away, the story reads like a gleefully demented version of Groundhog’s Day. Shiga delivers his devilishly black humor with impeccable comic pacing. Originally presented as a daily, serialized webcomic, the story benefits from the more traditional comic book format, as it displays Shiga’s mastery of the page turn for comedic effect. The simplicity of the setting (most of the story takes place in the same room) lends a certain claustrophobia, as events slowly grow ever more surreal. The art, while pleasingly cartoony, has a schematic quality in both style and layout, that brings to mind the ironically understated work of Jason or Chris Ware. This matter-of-fact presentation, given the bleak subject matter, only heightens the awful, laugh-out-loud moments. And of those, there are quite a few. Because, while suicide may not be painless, in Shiga’s manic, twisted hands, it is hilarious.

Demon #1

Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland#1(IDW): Winsor McCay is one of the greatest artists (not just cartoonists) of the 20th century. His work has inspired everyone from Walt Disney to Maurice Sendak. His seminal achievement is arguably Little Nemo in Slumberland. In newspapers across the country, McCay presented a weekly art nouveau tableau of fantasy, in which Nemo’s dream world came breathtakingly to life. Never had such a wild imagination been rendered with such precise, consummate draftsmanship. At the very dawn of comics McCay set a bar for the medium that has never been surpassed. Eric Shanower and Gabriel Rodriguez attempting to revisit this masterwork is then, the most quietly audacious move of the year.

Of the two, Mr. Rodriguez has by far the more difficult task. How does an artist, even one as talented as Rodriguez, interpret the work of the most gifted fabulist ever to hold a pencil, without seeming slavish or paling by comparison? Happily, he seems up to the challenge. While obviously owing much to McCay’s work, Rodriguez introduces a more modern cinematic flair to the proceedings (McCay, for instance, nearly always kept his main characters in mid-range shots, almost never employing close-ups) that may have been influenced by the gorgeous, but structurally flawed, animated movie adaptation of 1989. While nothing can ever quite compare to the original, the artwork here is playful, precise, and candy-colored (hues skillfully provided by Nelson Daniel. McCay, of course, colored the originals.) In other words, it is everything Little Nemo should be. Well, almost. If there is a quibble, it’s that, other than a couple of pages (8 and 9) he doesn’t attempt the kind of innovative panel designs that were so integral to the original. Ah well, room to stretch in future issues.

As for Mr. Shanower’s part, he does a fine job of providing just enough of McCay’s greatest hits for Rodriguez to exploit, while establishing a rhythm that stays true to the original and simultaneously taking advantage of the comic book format. Not a small feat. His best decision however, may have been to not set this in McCay’s world of 1905, nor to try to update the original character for our time. In a small but wise step, he introduces a new Nemo, establishing a fresh start and allowing himself some latitude with the character’s development. It also may make him more relatable to young readers. Because at the end of the day, that’s the point. Shanower and Rodriguez have created that all-too-rare thing: an excellent comic book for children. And if this book introduces the unparalleled wonder of McCay’s masterpiece to a new generation, then that alone is cause for celebration.

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Go ahead: blink a few times; yeah, rub your eyes. Ain’t gonna change the fact that there are only six books on the big list this week.

Velvet #8 (Image): I had thought about dropping out, but #7 drew me back into the fold–back into Brubaker and Epting’s heaven of high-stakes espionage. Color my faith restored in the spy gods.

Tooth & Claw #1 (Image): Kurt Busiek’s so very good at what he does. Sure, Astro City often reads like a PSA, but it reads exceedingly well. I mean, what fanboy doesn’t need a little sensitivity training with his Wednesday fix?

Tooth & Claw #1

Men of Wrath #2 (Image): #1 wasn’t bad. Started off with a bang, that’s for sure. Aaron’s voice is unmistakable, though it’s drowned out a bit by Southern Bastards, which is hitting some seriously high notes of late.

Men of Wrath #2

Miracleman #13 (Marvel): I want Moore! So much Moore! As I’ve mentioned in the past: this’ll be the best book of the week; it won’t even be close.

Miracleman #13

Cloaks #3 (BOOM!): Second one wasn’t as good as the first. Might as well stick it out. There’s really no reason not to.

The Sixth Gun #44 (Oni Press): Stocking up my issues of The Sixth Gun like any survivalist would stock up ammo. Sad thing is, this Gun’s gonna run out of bullets sooner than later. That’s probably why I’m in no rush to read ’em.